


get it right

by Anonymous



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 13:58:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7760464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaito is reliable, Kaito is responsible, so it's Kaito Ryouga calls to fish his dead body out of Heartland River in half an hour's time because obviously he won't be in any shape to do it himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	get it right

 

 

 

 

It's 11:04 p.m. on a clear cool night when Kaito's phone rings and caller ID says it's Ryouga on the other end.

"Kaito."

"Ryouga?"

"I need a favour."

Kaito is reliable, Kaito is responsible, so it's Kaito Ryouga calls to fish his dead body out of Heartland River near the pier in half an hour's time because obviously he won't be in any shape to do it himself.

"Ryouga."

"Yeah, what?" Static over the connection.

"Ryouga, don't—"

The line goes dead.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

It takes seventeen seconds for Orbital to triangulate the cell signal and verify the location Ryouga mentioned, another five minutes and three seconds to get from Tenjou tower to where Ryouga is. Kaito knows the area: Heartland River far downstream near the pier, an industrial area where nobody really goes. Ryouga had had the sense to stash his motorcycle in the shrubbery, out of sight from the main road, but the gleaming red metal is still conspicuous from the sky.

Ryouga's dark hair and dark clothes are harder to spot, but Kaito catches sight of where the moonlight doesn't reflect right and Orbital swoops low and drops him into the river.

Kaito moves blind through the dark water, searching; catches hold of Ryouga's trailing jacket, slings Ryouga's arm around his own shoulders and kicks back in the direction of the surface. For a moment they don't move, Ryouga's arm half around Kaito's neck like a stranglehold and Kaito's flooded through with black terror but then his face breaks surface and he pulls in deep breaths, his lungs fill with cool night air. From there he manages to drag Ryouga's deadweight from the river and onto the grass.

Ryouga's not breathing, his pulse is weak. Kaito kneels at Ryouga's side, tilts Ryouga's chin up to check his airway. Kaito's moving on autopilot, muscle memory of CPR lessons from middle school he never thought would come in useful. Places his mouth over Ryouga's own—cold, and tasting of the river— and breathes. Shoves the heels of his hands into Ryouga's chest the way he'd done all those months ago except this time he's returning a soul, not taking it. _Live, damn you, live._

Ryouga gasps, coughs and spits a mouthful of water in Kaito's face.

Kaito helps Ryouga up, claps him on the back while he coughs up half the contents of Heartland River onto the grass. Ryouga's eyes are watering, his face twisted in abject misery but Kaito has no sympathy; he brought this on himself. "I don't appreciate being called out here in the middle of the night to clean up your mess."

"Yeah, we can't always get what we want. If you waited a few minutes it would have been easier."

Kaito pulls off his sodden coat and lays it out over the grass to dry. "It wouldn't. If you drowned I'd have to call the police and then answer all their questions."

Ryouga lets out a sharp bark of laughter. "I. I'm glad to have saved you the trouble then."

He shoves at the damp hair still plastered to the side of his face; he's looking out over the river, at the dark shapes of factories on the opposite bank, into the sky, anywhere but at Kaito. "You know, you really should have let me die."

Kaito backhands him and then pulls him up by the collar, damp fabric squelching in his fingers. "Look at me, Kamishiro Ryouga," he says, low and dangerous, and Ryouga finally, finally does. "You got to _live_. You got to come back and how dare you try to throw away Astral's wishes like that."

Ryouga's eyes are dark, searching. Kaito's mad, but he's not surprised. Ever since Astral rewrote the world and brought them all back Ryouga has worn the expression of a haunted man, stonewalls all of Yuuma's attempts to invite him anywhere, fights against Astral's new enemies like he doesn't care whether he lives or dies. It's no small feat to go from being dead to being alive and Kaito knows for a fact that Vector doesn't sleep and Mizael still wakes up screaming; nobody who went through that war is any semblance of fine but most of them are at least _trying_ and Kaito can respect them for that.

"What about Rio, what about Yuuma. What about Durbe and Mizael and everyone. You're just gonna up and leave them behind?"

Ryouga's eyes flash. "Rio is better at living than I am. Durbe and the others are getting used to things, they'll be fine. And Yuuma can mind his own business. I've got nothing to do with that."

It's not sentiment. Just responsibility, and its absence. Kaito gets it. It's the same way Haruto's fine now, so Kaito doesn't have to fight for his sake any more.

"Yuuma would _cry_ ," Kaito says quietly. "We promised we'd never be the ones to upset him."

To that Ryouga doesn't say anything. For a long still moment they just sit there, listening to the river and the sounds of insects in the air, and then Ryouga tugs miserably at his damp trousers. Kaito's eyes narrow. "Get up, I'm taking you to the hospital."

Ryouga staggers as he stands; Kaito has to support-half-carry him the short uphill distance to the shrubs where he left his bike. He picks up the keys he'd left on the dashboard and Kaito reaches across to take them from him. "Move over, I'm driving."

"Do you even know how to—"

Ryouga begins to protest, but then he looks at Kaito and something about Kaito's expression must have changed his mind because his lips tighten and he moves over. Kaito turns the key in the ignition, slides down the visor of his helmet. Truth be told he's glad Ryouga hadn't pressed the matter, because he was right; Kaito hasn't driven this class of vehicle before. But Kaito is also good with machines, and good at improvising, and he's seen Ryouga drive; now he knows from the thrum of metal under his fingers that Ryouga's ride will get them both anywhere they need to go.

Kaito doesn't know how to save a life, but if there's something he does know how to do, it's this.

"Okay?" he asks, over the hum of the engine.

"Okay." Ryouga nods against his shoulder. "We can go."

And Kaito goes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
